SRQ Fun Committee

Each EDF office has a "Fun Committee" that plans activities or parties for holidays. We have a joke in our office that the SRQ (Sarasota's airport code) Fun Committee is the best because we always have 100% attendance and all of our activities cost EDF nothing. We also laugh and say that Wade is a defacto member of the committee since he attends all events too.

Our first spring event ended up being a whole day - first the Asian Cultural Festival at Selby Gardens. We watched martial arts demonstrations, wandered around the gardens, and checked out the bonsai garden and Ikebana displays (art of flower arranging). Here is one of my favorite arrangements:

After the festival, we were so excited about the first warm day we've had that we made our first trip to the beach as a group, which I am embarrassed to admit we haven't done sooner. The beach was the perfect way to end the day - rum punch, cheese & crackers, and bocce ball at sunset. Yes, it's a good life in Florida this time of year... :)

(Below from left: Kellyn, Michelle, Wade, and me)

Politics 101

This week I was in DC yet again for work. I had meetings on Capitol Hill with House and Senate Committee Staff, and the policy director for the Assistant to the Speaker of the House. All to tell them about the "wonders" of the trade in coral. I also got to witness my first hearing on a bill, gave public comment at the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting, and finally took some pictures while I was there.

Here is me in my suit with Capitol Hill behind me. I had fun that day walking underneath all the Congressional office buildings like a rat in a maze. There are gift shops, shoe shines, and huge cafeterias underneath each building - like a city for mole people. It was pretty funny watching interns, staffers, and high school students scurry around everywhere.

By the end of the week, I was pretty brain fried and ready to go home, so I ducked into the U.S. Botanic Garden to make myself feel at home (ahh, the green plants, beautiful flowers, and humidity!).

I also swung by the National Museum of the American Indian which is one of my favorites because it is so unique and beautiful compared to all the other buildings in DC. It's also one of the newest - it opened in 2004.
Now, it occurs to me that some of you might be wondering what the heck I'm talking about when I mention what I'm up to in DC, so I found this video to help explain things. Some of you my might recognize this video... :) I have to admit, I needed a crash course in how Congress works when I started this job, because it's amazing how much you can forget since taking that government class in high school. And it's even more amazing how much subtext there is underneath (aka politics) that isn't written anywhere, but "everyone" knows how things work. The phrase "inside the beltway" exists for a reason and once you're there, time and space take on new meaning in DC... or I should say less meaning...

Despite all the political B.S. that goes on there, I am always awed by how much history and beauty is crammed into the small space of D.C. If you ever have the chance, it is worth the trip - incredible museums, beautiful artwork, awe-inspiring monuments, fantastic restaurants, and a truly pedestrian city with public transit galore. The vast majority of the sites are free too!


You can check out some more pictures from my trip on our Picasa site.

3rd Anniversary

February 19th was our 3rd wedding anniversary. We took the day off work and decided to go do something fun outside. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas, but we decided to chance it anyway.

We headed to St. Pete to check out Ft. Desoto Park. There is usually great birding and beautiful beaches from what we've heard, but that day you could only feel and see the impending storm front rolling in. We walked the beach, looked for birds, and enjoyed just bumming around together.

After that we headed home to clean up and have a nice dinner out at our favorite sushi place in downtown Sarasota. It did not disappoint. It was a low-key day that was just what we needed - beautiful places, good food, love, and laughter.

Everything is Bigger in Texas

That saying is so true and applies to everything... houses, Whole Foods stores, and family! We went to Frisco, TX for the holiday weekend to participate in the Craft Family Reunion. In attendance were my 2 step-sisters, 2 step-brothers, their 6.5 (Janis is pregnant!) kids, my mom and step-dad, and his sister and brother-in-law. We had fun meeting the rest of the family for the first time, and seeing Janis and Miles again. The nieces in particular seemed to enjoy playing 20 questions with Wade and I about the ocean, which was actually pretty funny.

We had a great family dinner for Valentine's Day, and thanks to step-brother Bear's photographic prowess, here's a neat picture from the dinner, starting from the left is: Robin, Larry & my Mom, Bob & Diana, Wade & me, little Eva, Angela & Matt, Miles & Janis, Wendy, and Bear taking the picture. Just out of the frame are Wendy's husband Aaron and their two kids Ashli and Tyler, and Robin and Bear's 3 kids; Reagan, Robert, and Rebecca.

The next day we had homemade TX BBQ at Bear & Robin's house (they make their own salsa and BBQ sauce! Mmmm... check out the site: Ro-Bear's Salsa). Before heading to the house, we were in search of veggie burgers for the BBQ (I know, it's sacrilegious to utter that statement in TX), so we made an excursion to the local Whole Foods store which was about 3x bigger than the one we have in Sarasota - it was actually overwhelming! Further proof, that the saying "everything is bigger in TX" is actually true.

After the BBQ we met up with Sarah & Evan for drinks. It was so good to see them and hear how life in TX is.

It was a whirlwind weekend packed with family and fun and Wade's first (but not last) glimpse of Texas.

Best Day Ever

Our friend Marilyn came to visit us for a long weekend recently. She is a fellow fan of roller coasters and Busch Gardens, so we made the pilgrimage up to Tampa. Now, you may recall the "birthday incident" when we encountered the WORST.DAY.EVER. at Busch Gardens, but thankfully we bought the annual passes.

Before heading to the park we indulged in our favorite breakfast place: Buddha Belly Donuts in downtown Sarasota (awesome homemade goodies and super nice people). Luckily, we were able to get CJ meet us for breakfast too so we laughed and caught up over fantastic cinnamon rolls and donut french toast (yes, I said donut french toast). Full of homemade donuty goodness we headed to the park crossing our fingers... by accident, we picked a Saturday that happened to be Gasparilla Day. We can't be sure if it was divine intervention or the fact that everyone else in town was at Gasparilla, but we practically had the park to ourselves. I submit Exhibit A for your examination:

No, no, look past that tacky NASCAR shirt between Wade and Marilyn, and notice anything? Like the fact that it's 11am and there's no one in line for one of the best coasters in the park?! Yes, that's right, we stood in line for 5 minutes to be first in line, then the guy let us ride again (without getting back in line) so we could compare the front row to the back row. Marilyn and I laughed so hard through the ride that we cried. Seriously, tears of joy for riding Montu without wanting to kill another living soul (aka: the usual anger that comes along with standing in line for hours)... it was glorious and just what we needed. I also present exhibit B: Marilyn and I riding the Phoenix with only two other people (normally it holds about 60) - you might see us on the far left - two little blue dots:

After the Phoenix, Wade and Marilyn braved the Sheikra (oh, the horror...)... here they are wallowing in their "after picture" triumph (this pic was a shout-out to Alette, our other roller coaster fiend in the Philippines that was with us in spirit):
I was not part of this ride as it makes me feel like my soul will separate from my body. No, I am not exaggerating... see exhibit C where you can see Wade's true feelings about the coaster - it also makes him scream like a girl (this is the "before" picture, Marilyn is on the right)... I think he needed new pants after this ride. To be fair, the first time I rode this ride (it has a 90 degree drop straight down, face first), I had a look of sheer panic and terror on my face and looked to be begging the Almighty to spare my life (see exhibit D below from 2 years ago, with Jimmy on the left, and Wade on the right, and note we're in the FRONT row there...)

Now, Marilyn was a witness to both this incidents, and a debate began between us - who looks like the biggest pansy out of the group? If you look to the right of this post, you'll see a "Pansy Poll" - please help us settle the debate by voting... (Points to the person who can name the movie we're referencing with the Pansy Poll...)

After a thrilling morning we went to feed the birdies (they were fans of Wade, and he returned the love to his fan club):

Then we went back to ride Sheikra again, and when there aren't any lines, why not?! This time I actually went on the ride and enjoyed it, too bad we didn't buy the picture that time b/c I actually looked normal in it...

In a matter of four hours we'd had lunch, visited all the animals, ridden all the coasters (some twice), had ice-creamy goodness (imagine a funnel cake covered in chocolate, strawberries, and soft-serve ice cream - hehe!). Unheard of!

Sunday we took it easy and took Marilyn to meet our armadillo friends at Myakka River State Park. Seriously, they're like rabbits... all over the place, not afraid of you, and hilariously cute.

We even managed to cram in a trip to the Salty Dog for lunch before she had to head home. We were sad to see her go, but have plenty of good pictures to keep us laughing until we see her again. You can check out more, here at our Picasa site.